Colorado’s public companies lost nearly $107 billion in market value last year during the worst shellacking for U.S. stocks since 1931.

That’s the price tag on the 51 percent decline suffered in the Bloomberg Colorado Index, a basket of publicly traded companies headquartered in the state.

To put that number into perspective, Colorado corporations lost enough market value to cover the state government’s $7.6 billion general fund for the next 14 years.

Split that loss among the roughly 5 million people living in the state, and each resident would have to pay $21,320.

As the 2000-to-2002 bear market showed, many companies don’t survive such large declines in value.

Low market valuations also can make it harder for companies to raise money, which, in turn, can force them to cut spending and payrolls, said Barbara Walchli, portfolio manager of the Aquila Rocky Mountain Equity Fund.

On the individual level, stock declines drain wealth, making people more reluctant to spend the money they still have. Such dramatic losses also wipe out capital gains, reducing tax revenues.

“It is going to have a dramatic impact on the state budget and on critical state services,” said Todd Saliman, the governor’s budget director.

Capital gains accounted for about 11 percent of personal income in the state during the last fiscal year, said Saliman. Falling capital gains are lowering estimates of what the state can expect to collect in taxes, he said.

EchoStar losses steep

The Denver Post examined 75 Colorado public companies and real estate investment trusts with a market value of $100 million or more at the end of 2007, as well as companies that went public or spun off during the course of 2008.

Of the companies examined, ProLogis, a real estate investment trust specializing in warehouses and industrial properties, took the biggest hit last year — $12.63 billion.

Investors lost confidence that Denver-based ProLogis, which borrows heavily to purchase properties, could refinance its debt given the global economic slowdown.

EchoStar Corp., which in January split into two companies — EchoStar and Dish Network — was next with a loss of $11.3 billion, including Dish.

Normally, media and entertainment companies hold up better in a recession because they generate a steady stream of cash, Walchli said.

But as households look for places to cut back, keeping 100 plus channels might not rank as the highest priority. Easy credit inflated the number of homeowners, and, in turn, the number of cable and satellite subscribers, she said.

I have worked at The Post since late 2000. My beats include residential real estate, economic development and the Colorado economy. Other publications where I have worked include Financial Times Energy, The Denver Business Journal and Arab News. My parents immigrated from northern Italy, although my great grandparents came to Central City in the late 1800s.

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